Veterinarians

Scheduling Info

Thank you for your interest in RadCats. RadCats was established by Dr. Charles Ward in 1994 and we’ve treated over 2,500 cats with hyperthyroidism in the facility since our first cat, B.J. Brown.

Radiation therapy is thought to be the safest and most effective treatment for feline hyperthyroidism. We are able to treat several cats every Monday except major holidays.

Currently, we are in line with the national average of 94% success with radiation therapy. This means that 6 out of every 100 cats treated will need a second treatment. Although the majority of cases are successes, we like to prepare both our referring veterinarians and cat owners for the possibility of the need for a second treatment. It seems that the majority of cats requiring retreatment are cats that have thyroid values above 16 mg/dl. These cats are thought to be more likely to have adenocarcinoma versus adenoma of the thyroid gland and although the treatment process is the same, the dose of radiation required to suppress this thyroid tissue is greater.

We base each patient’s radiation dose on its thyroid value and presence of thyroid nodules. It’s important to list on the referral form the highest T4 measured over the course of therapy at your hospital and also to palpate and note thyroid nodules when present on the referral forms.

A therapeutic trial of methimazole will also help us gauge the amount of I131 needed to treat your specific patient and give us insight into the patient’s kidney function. We recommend that all cats requesting treatment with I131 undergo a methimazole trial for 14-30 days with a recheck of renal values, thyroid values and urinalysis at the end of the trial period. There are several discussions now in veterinary literature about the most important kidney value in predicting renal failure in post treatment cats receiving I131, and no firm data has been established.

We realize that all cats cannot tolerate oral medications and that owners are not always capable of giving medications, so the methimazole trial is a suggestion, but we understand it is not always possible.

Dr. Anderson is available to answer any questions you may have about the program in general or about a specific case. You may call us at (919) 967-9261 or email DeWana Anderson, DVM at radcat131@gmail.com.

To have your patient treated, please print and fax the RadCats Referral Form or fill out the convenient online referral.

You should instruct your client to contact us to schedule their treatment once all your referral information is submitted.